In various electronic apparatus, such as computer systems and printed circuit ("PC") boards which include logic circuitry, a backplane or "mother" board is employed. The "mother" board has a plurality of subsidiary "daughter" boards mounted thereon, usually at right angles thereto. Electrical power is provided to the "mother board" by a separate power supply, and the power supply has cables or bus bars leading to the "mother" board.
While sufficient for the purposes intended, nevertheless, these prior art arrangements are somewhat cumbersome and inconvenient and are inherently inflexible. With the advent of higher complexity and speed of data processing and increasingly dense semiconductor packaging the need for power distribution onto mother boards and even down to the daughter board level, has gradually arisen. Difficulty, however, has been encountered in adapting existing power type connectors and screw-down terminals to the electronic packaging. The large terminal lugs utilized for power suppliers of a few years age and the associated connectors heretofore used are simply too large, too cumbersome, and too difficult to use to satisfy present packaging requirements.
One means to distribute power between printed circuit boards is the programmable modular connector assembly disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 06/855,255, abandoned continued Ser. No. 07/178,786 owned by this assignee. The programmable modular connector assembly is comprised of modules which interlock with each other to form intermating halves of a connector assembly with different style modules for different power levels.
Since these modules may include contacts that carry high current, it is desirable that means be provided in the module to assure that one's finger cannot be inserted into a module to engage the respective contacts therein.
In such a system, it is also desirable to have means to assure that the effects of manufacturing tolerances are minimized and that each of the modules are essentially self centering.